Lockimara gazes deep into your mind’s eye with his trippy and transcendent new album A Vision Again — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
A Vision Again marks a bold and emotionally resonant step forward for the musical project of restless Toronto-via-Vancouver-via-Montreal singer-songwriter Nicholas Gay. Arriving on the heels of a year’s worth of singles, the record serves both as a culmination of Lockimara’s sonic experimentation and a signal of what’s to come. Fusing elements of electronic, folk, shoegaze and alternative rock, the album draws from a wide palette of influences. Despite this range, Gay shapes A Vision Again into something deeply personal and cohesive — full of heart and stylistic risk.
Across the album, Gay’s songwriting is filled with warmth and vulnerability, wrapped in textures that move between analog and digital, familiar and unfamiliar. The title track, paired with a video directed by Kai Trotz-Motayne, captures the project’s balance of disorientation and emotional clarity. Pitched-up vocals, unconventional percussion, and abrupt genre shifts never distract from the emotional core — they enhance it. It’s this contrast that defines A Vision Again: genuine lyricism filtered through a fractured lens of experimental pop production.
Each track offers a new texture. Album opener Halo begins with a wave of digital shoegaze, nodding to artists like Sweet Trip and A.G. Cook. Bible pulls back into sparse, country-tinged folk, while Home Run channels a more jagged, early-2000s indie rock energy. The shifts in sound feel purposeful, with each song adding a new layer to the album’s emotional and sonic world.
Ultimately, A Vision Again is more than a collection of genre experiments — it’s a reflection of Lockimara’s growth as both an artist and a storyteller. Nick’s voice, both literal and artistic, shines through each moment: heartfelt, sometimes humorous, and open in its vulnerability. By weaving together these disparate elements, Gay creates an album that’s both distinctive and approachable. Rather than fitting neatly into a genre or trend, it offers something more personal — a space where sincerity and experimentation meet.
Gay started Lockimara in Montreal when he was 17, playing underground venues and punk shows. The original idea for the project was to make music that merged his reverence towards Elliott Smith, My Bloody Valentine and math rock. Leaning into distorted and blown-out textures, odd time signatures, and unconventional chord changes, Gay aimed to make something new and engaging.
Eight years later, Lockimara has seen many changes to its lineup and sound. Coming out of the pandemic, Gay found himself back in his home city of Vancouver in a disoriented state. Having moved and graduated university throughout the course of two years spent in the digital isolation of the pandemic, Gay realized that he had virtually stopped playing music. Attempting to turn this realization into empowerment,hr sought to get back to the roots of his love for music: Composition and songwriting. Foregoing gigs or attempting to network in his new city, Gay has sought to revive Lockimara through a bold and engaging new record, leaning into the state of isolation he was processing in order to channel a creative output closer to his heart.
While Lockimara’s interests and influences have changed greatly since its conception, Gay’s strong grasp of melody and rhythm have never wavered. In recognizing the vulnerability of this project, Gay boldly aims to harness this record as the firm inertia to support Lockimara’s movement back into the Canadian underground music scene as a staple artist.
Check out A Vision Again below, watch some of the videos above, and follow Lockimara on Instagram.
